THIS: New Social Media Site Wants To Unclutter Your Social Streams

Unlike Ello, “This” isn’t make any bold statements about being the anti-Facebook. But, nonetheless, the site is attempting to address one of the biggest complaints Facebook has been hearing lately: too much clutter because on “This” – people can only share one link per day.

As someone who routinely hits “like” and “share” and retweet faster than you can say TMI, it will be difficult to limit myself to one share per day. But, on the other hand, it will absolutely make me more selective as I ask myself, “do I really need to share that photo of the dinner I just made or that political rant or animal video?

As “This” forces people to focus on the quality of what they share versus the quantity, I imagine the content that will fill our “This” newsfeeds will indeed be more useful, interesting and valuable. So, for that alone, “This” is a brilliant concept.

The site is the brainchild of Andrew Golis, who served as an entrepreneur-in-residence at Atlantic Media and later became General Manager of the soon-to-be-defunct (Atlantic) Wire.

Unlike Ello and App.net, “This” doesn’t have to attract millions of users to be a success because it’s not about sharing for the sake of sharing. It’s about like-minded people looking for quality – relevant – content. I can myself connecting more with industry leaders and colleagues than friends as it will certainly be a place to find only the most compelling marketing links. THAT, I believe will be the key to making “This” a success. They will need the thought leaders, the high-profile writers and content creators to sign up and give the exclusivity of that one daily link importance.

“This” is still in invite-only beta, but all profiles are public. You can request an invite through the landing page or ask friends in the know.

Although there is still much to do to make “This” as much a part of people’s daily lives as Facebook — for one, there’s no mobile app yet — I’m excited about its potential.

And, I hope “This” is a success because we could all use some un-cluttering of our digital lives today.

Jennifer Jones-Mitchell

A global leader in social media marketing, Jennifer Jones-Mitchell has been at the center of traditional and digital PR since the mid 90s and has helped launch some of the world's most loved brands. She has been blogging about PR and social media marketing since 2007. Learn more at: www.jenniferjonesmitchell.com